


A Thing So Wrong

by just_another_outcast



Series: the scenes we deserve (episode tags) [19]
Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Angst, Dani and JT make very brief appearances, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode Tag, Episode: s01e19 The Professionals, Gen, Malcolm Bright Needs a Hug, Papa Gil, Protective Gil Arroyo, coda to 1x19, tag to 1x19
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:55:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24948784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/just_another_outcast/pseuds/just_another_outcast
Summary: Arresting Malcolm was the hardest thing Gil had ever had to do.  He had to do it anyway.  But no matter what, he is not going to let his kid go to prison.(tag to 1x19, The Professionals)
Relationships: Gil Arroyo & Malcolm Bright
Series: the scenes we deserve (episode tags) [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1782832
Comments: 10
Kudos: 58





	A Thing So Wrong

**Author's Note:**

> I've been looking forward to this one for a while, and I am suuuuper happy with how it turned out, even though it's short. I hope you enjoy, and please leave a review :)

Staying stoic while his kid panicked was the hardest thing Gil ever had to do. This whole ordeal was basically his worst nightmare, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"You know I didn't do it, Gil, please," Malcolm begged as JT took a gentle hold of his arm and began to lead him away. Gil could see the fear in his eyes and wanted nothing more than to run to him and tell him that it was all gonna be okay. But he couldn't, not yet. They had to do this, they had to keep the appearance up, no matter how much it hurt. Malcolm quickly looked between Dani and JT, his eyes pleading and desperate. "You know I didn't, I couldn't, please." Dani looked just as close to tears as Malcolm did.

"I'm sorry," she said, her voice breaking slightly as she did so. JT just continued to look straight forward, as if everything would be fine if he didn't look around the kid's apartment and see the shattered door on the ground.

"Put him in my car," Gil ordered, doing his best to keep his own voice steady. He had to do this. There wasn't any other way. He glared at the SWAT team, a heavy, vicious glare, until they filed back down the stairs and out of the loft, leaving Gil alone - except for Sunshine, who was tweeting furiously, somehow being able to tell that something was wrong. He walked over to her cage. "It's gonna be okay, girl," he muttered. "He'll be alright. I'm not gonna let anything happen to our boy."

Gil followed everyone else out onto the street, making sure to lock all of the locks on the ground floor door, since the other door was basically gone. The SWAT team was loading back up, and Dani and JT were in JT's car. Dani's head was in her hands. JT was still staring straight forward. Gil would meet them both back at the precinct to discuss their next move. First, he had to take his kid to jail.

With a deep breath, Gil slid into his car and closed the door, immediately turning around to face the kid in the backseat. Malcolm was almost hyperventilating.

"Kid, we're gonna figure this out," he said, reaching out and resting and hand on the kid's knee.

"I didn't do it," Malcolm said, furiously shaking his head as a few tears fell. He looked so damn scared. "I swear I didn't, Gil, I swear-"

"I know," Gil assured him, giving his knee a comforting squeeze. "I know you didn't do it, I know that somehow you're being set up, or there's a mistake, or something. I know you didn't kill him, I promise. I know you're innocent." That seemed to help a little bit. Malcolm no longer seemed to be on the verge of hyperventilating. "But we still had to do this," Gil continued. "No matter what's going on, the brass couldn't let us ignore the evidence. They ordered the SWAT team, and I'm so sorry. I tried to talk them out of it, but they insisted on a no-knock warrant and a SWAT team because-," he broke off. Did it really matter why? It was only going to hurt the kid more.

"Why?" Malcolm asked, his voice broken.

Gil sighed. "Because of your father, and because of the medications you're on." Malcolm closed his eyes and hung his head as another tear escaped. That just wasn't fair. Malcolm was a good kid, he wasn't ever going to resist arrest. The SWAT team was pointless, but the brass just seemed to have it out for the kid. "I requested the team to arrest you be your own." Malcolm's head shot up, his eyes a mixture of shock and betrayal. "I didn't trust anyone else to do it without hurting you," Gil insisted. "I knew that JT, Dani, and I could do it as gently as possible, without roughing you up and finding an excuse to slam your head against something." Malcolm's gaze softened slightly, and he nodded.

"But we're gonna figure this out, I promise," Gil continued. "I'm not gonna let you go to prison. I'm not even gonna let you spend more than one night in jail." He ducked his head to catch Malcolm's gaze and held it. "No matter what happens with your case, I am not going to let anything happen to you. I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe, even if it means leaving New York forever." Gil hoped the kid understood exactly what he was trying to say. He would go on the run with the kid for the rest of his life if that's what it took to keep him safe and out of prison. Anything would be better than that. A kid like Malcolm wouldn't do well in prison. With his big blue eyes, floppy hair, good looks, and small size, he was the perfect target for the worst kinds of prison violence. He would be sought after and treated like an object until he died, which would be early. Those were just the cold facts of a prison system in desperate need of reform, and Gil was not going to let Malcolm become another statistic. Gil knew exactly what would be done to the kid if he went to prison, and he just was not going to let that happen, no matter what. Nothing was more important than protecting Malcolm. Absolutely nothing.

"I can't ask you to do that," Malcolm said, his voice thick with emotion. "I can't ask you to give up your career, your relationships, everything, for me."

"You don't have to ask," Gil immediately responded with a sad smile and a shake of his head. "I would do anything for you, even if it meant not being a cop anymore, or leaving the city forever, or anything else." Even if it meant never pursuing Jessica like he'd wanted to for so long. He would give up anything for the kid. "I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe. There is nothing that I would put in front of you. I'm going to get you through this, I promise."

Finally, Malcolm nodded, and took a deep breath.

"I do have to take you to lockup tonight, and I'm so sorry," Gil amended. He hated it, but he had to. They needed to go about this the right way as long as possible. Going on the run with the kid was the last resort, but Gil was more than willing to do it. In his mind, he was already planning it out. If worst came to worst, he'd send the kid out of town first, and finish up everything in New York, get his affairs in order, then do everything he could to make sure they were never found. Then, he would contact Malcolm and help him stay under the radar, forever. Anything was better than the boy going to prison.

"I get it," Malcolm responded in barely more than a whisper. He leaned his head against the backrest, not making eye contact with Gil anymore.

Gil sighed, then squeezed the kid's knee once more before turning back around and beginning the drive. It was silent, almost awkward. Gil and Malcolm never had awkward silences. Everything about the silence felt wrong. It was wrong that Gil had to break the door down and arrest his own kid. It was wrong that Malcolm was in this mess at all. It was wrong that Gil couldn't just hold the kid and tell him it was all going to be okay, that he was going to fix it all. It was wrong that Gil had to sit there and do nothing while his kid was shaking with fear in the backseat. Gil forced himself to relax his grip on the steering wheel and take a deep breath. They were going to figure this out. It was going to be okay. The only way he was going to get Malcolm to believe it was going to be okay was if Gil believed it himself.

Once again, Gil had to force himself to be stoic as he took his kid out of the car and into jail. He could feel Malcolm trembling under his gentle grip on his bicep. The kid's head was down, not making eye contact with anyone. Gil was just glad that no one at the jail, officer or inmate, knew either him or the kid. It was far outside the 16th, so Gil was just another cop transporting just another prisoner. That was the only solace of the night.

His heart broke for the millionth time as he had to let go of the kid and let the other officers do their jobs. Malcolm would have his mugshot taken, and be thoroughly searched, and Gil couldn't be there.

"You're gonna be okay, kid," he repeated in a whisper, just loud enough for Malcolm to hear him. "I'm gonna go to work with JT and Dani, and we're gonna get you out of this, I promise." Malcolm nodded and took another deep breath. "You're gonna be okay. Your mom will have you out by morning, I promise. Just keep your head down, and don't rock the boat. It's gonna be alright." It took everything Gil had in him not to pull the kid into his arms, to stop his shaking and keep him safe from the world. "Do you trust me?" Gil asked instead.

Malcolm nodded vigorously. "I trust you," he affirmed. "I'll be alright."

Trying to keep his own shaking to a minimum - his being from rage at the entire situation - Gil turned Malcolm over to the corrections officers, and tried to walk away like he wasn't leaving his heart behind. He took another deep breath and held his head high. He had a lot of work to do.


End file.
